Too Low For Jho Low: Fugitive Businessman Slams Govt For Lowering Equanimity Price
The luxury yacht was sold to Genting Malaysia Bhd for USD126 million (RM514.6 million).
By Katrina Khairul Azman — 04 Apr 2019, 11:51 AM
Malaysian fugitive Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, is not happy with how the Pakatan Harapan government handled the sale of his 1MDB-linked luxury yacht, Equanimity
According to The Edge Markets, the sale of Equanimity for USD126 million (RM514.6 million) to Genting Malaysia Bhd was finalised on 3 April.
The vessel was reportedly worth USD250 million (RM1 billion).
In a statement issued yesterday by his spokesman, co-CEO of Wells Haslem Mayhew Strategic Public Affairs Benjamin Haslem, the businessman claimed that the government had not kept to the rule of law in selling off the super yacht, The Star reported.
Calling it a "bargain-basement sale price", Jho Low said that it is "the final chapter in yet another tale of the regime's incompetence and disregard for the rule of law"
"It took the Mahathir government twice as long as they promised to sell the yacht, the auction flopped, and the 'transparent' sales process the Mahathir government committed to at the outset has been subject to multiple abrupt changes – largely forced on the government through their own incompetence," the statement read.
"The Mahathir government has shown that they are prepared to trash the value of the Equanimity in a misguided attack on their political opponents," the financier added.
According to Jho Low, the devaluation of the yacht was also because the Pakatan administration allegedly forcefully took the vessel from Indonesia and docked it in an unsuitable environment
"Let us be clear, had the Mahathir government not illegally seized the Equanimity from Indonesia and docked it in a hazardous environment at Port Klang, the vessel would have maintained its value and avoided a fire sale," the statement read, according to The Star.
He also claimed that proceeds from the sale were further eroded by expenditure on the vessel's upkeep – reportedly some USD3.5million (RM14.3million).
"This is a failed PR stunt, which arrogantly ignored court rulings in Indonesia as well as established legal proceedings in the US," he claimed.